Yankees don’t blame pine tar for hitting woes against Yusei Kikuchi

The Yankees’ bats had a lot of problems Wednesday night, but was pine tar one of them? Social media outrage over pictures showing a dark substance on Mariners lefty Yusei Kikuchi’s hat was not shared in the Yankee clubhouse after the Bombers were beaten 10-1 at the Stadium.

But manager Aaron Boone said it was something he’d look at.

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“I was aware of it very late. I heard they were talking about it. I was made aware of it sometime in the eighth inning there,” Boone said. “So I’ll take a look at it, and we’ll kind of see what we make of it.”

Kikuchi dominated the Yankees on Wednesday night. (Al Bello/Getty)

In his clubhouse, however, there was not much interest in looking back at a night when they were thoroughly dominated.

“I could care less,” Yankee outfielder Cameron Maybin said. “Nobody noticed it, nobody said anything. We got a lot bigger worries, trying to manufacture runs, trying to get on base, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”

Kikuchi took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before it was broken up by Mike Tauchman’s broken-bat bloop double. DJ LeMahieu followed with a single off Kikuchi and Luke Voit hit a sac fly to keep the Yankees’ streak of not being shut out alive. It’s been 118 games of scoring at least a run for the Yankees.

Kikuchi allowed just the one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out three to pick up his second win of the season.

“When you’ve got a guy commanding all the pitches he’s got, all over the place, it’s tough to scrap hits together off of him,” Romine said.

When asked if he noticed the spot under the bill of Kikuchi’s hat, Romine said he had not.

“I was too busy trying to figure out how to stop giving up runs. He had stuff on his hat? That’s not my zone,” Romine said. “ I don’t talk about that kind of stuff. There are other people that take care of that.”

HICKS BACK?

Aaron Hicks was expected to be back in center field Wednesday night for the Tampa Tarpons. It’s his third rehab start with the Yankees Class-A affiliate, and the team will be watching carefully. The outfielder has been rehabbing from what he described as “chronic lower back pain” and may finally be nearing a comeback. He hasn’t played for the Yankees yet this season.

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Hicks was the designated hitter Tuesday, and Yankee manager Aaron Boone said that he’ll play seven or eight innings in center field Wednesday before taking tomorrow off. "I would say there’s a chance he could be activated this weekend,” Boone said. (The Yankees play the Rays in Tampa this weekend.)

“It could be this weekend, or it could be the start of the homestand when we get back,” Boone said of the series in the Bronx against the Orioles that begins on Monday. “We’ll kind of talk through that here in the next 24-48 hours.”

Hicks is close to coming back. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

He would be just the fifth player — out of 16 — to return from the IL for the Yankees this year.

Last season, Hicks hit .248/.366/.467 with 27 homers and 79 RBI. He set career-highs in runs scored (90), hits (119), extra-base hits (48), RBI and walks (90). He also set a career high with a 4.9 WAR, which was third among all center fielders.

His importance to the lineup is one reason the Yankees pushed to get a seven-year extension with Hicks, which he signed in February. The $10 million annual average value was a good deal for the Yankees, but also a risk with Hicks’ injury history.

The 29-year-old has missed times with an intercostal strain and injuries to both hamstrings and an oblique in his time with the Yankees. Last season was the first in which Hicks played in more than 125 games.

The Yankees traded for Mike Tauchman at the end of spring training as insurance for Hicks, and he could be the victim of his return. Clint Frazier has made the most of his opportunity with Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the IL. Frazier was hitting .306 with six homers and 17 RBI heading into Wednesday night’s game. Cameron Maybin, who the Yankees acquired when Frazier had to go on the IL with a sprained left ankle, is a tremendous defender, gives the Yankees some speed and is hitting .360 in limited at-bats over the past two weeks.

Stanton, who has gone from a biceps strain to a shoulder issue since being placed on the IL on April 1, has yet to progress beyond hitting off a tee and soft toss, Boone said.

“Giancarlo hit yesterday. It went fine. Tee and toss. Today the same. I think he’s going to hit off the machine in the cage as well. Hopefully he continues to ramp up. Nothing much more to report on him,” Boone said.

"Hopefully it starts to move now pretty well. We’ll see.”

GREEN GETTING CLOSE

Chad Green has found something in his time in Triple-A. In two appearances as an opener, Green has pitched five scoreless innings. He has struck out 11 and walked one, which has the big league club thinking about his return.

“It’s gone really well. He’s throwing again tonight and he’ll start again, probably a two or three inning stint. And then we’ll see from there if we want to have a bullpen session, if we want him to have more outings. That’s something we’ll evaluate,” Boone said. “We’ve seen the stuff tick up. We’ve seen some of the minor adjustments that he’s made really take hold, so we’re really encouraged by where Greenie is, and we want to make sure we get him to where we know he will get.

“But we’ve been really excited about what we’ve seen from him in his first couple times out. Because of the length he’s gone, the two innings, three innings, he’s been able to have a side session in between to continue to work on things in a controlled environment. And it’s gone really well."